Voltage dithering is a known technique for managing heat generation in a data processing system, such as a laptop computer or a smartphone or other consumer electronic devices. A dithering requirement is imposed on requests for high voltage in a data processing system, which divides a given cycle into high voltage possible and only low voltage phases. By controlling how long the data processing system operates at the high voltage point, the generation of heat can be constrained such that the data processing does not become too hot while it is being operated. Voltage dithering patterns in the prior art can be dynamic as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0314305. In the case of voltage dithering described in that published application, the system has a dynamic voltage dithering between two voltage levels. By limiting the amount of time that a system operates at the higher voltage point, a system can control the temperature of the system while also providing improved system performance which can be achieved at the higher voltage point relative to the system's performance at the lower voltage point.
Another technique known in the art for improving the performance of a data processing system can use a voltage boost. In this technique, a boosted voltage is applied in response to a human interface event such as when a user touches an input screen or moves a cursor on a screen, etc. An example of such a technique which uses boosted voltages is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/080,280, filed Apr. 5, 2011.